Ministry to Men has taken off in a new direction.
It was 8 months ago, I called a few men together to discuss our "Ministry to Men". Out of that birthed a man's event almost every month starting with a Sunday afternoon Cricket match, Father/Son and Mate fishing trip, Golf Outing, and a Meat on a Spit Social.
Cricket was a blast with 24 or so men involved . I understand the highlight was how hilarious it was for most to see a Baseball player take a baseball stance and hit a few long balls before the "bowler hit the wicket" (struck me out). I then waited my turn to throw some MunnHeat (pitch) as the bowler. Humbly, I will say I gained their respect. However, I still think we should use baseball gloves over open hand catching!
I enjoyed planning the "meat on a spit" too, as the men came together for a great feast of lamb and a butt of beef cooked-up rotisserie style by a team of South African men and an Aussie. There where plenty of side dishes as well! Sixty + men cultivated relationships and responded well to two men sharing how Jesus has impacted their lives.
Then just last week about 50 men showed up to an impromptu Saturday AM “Man’s Breakfast" with a South African Evangelist/Pastor sharing about men of faith from the Scriptures. I took the opportunity to recruit men to join in "Ministry to Men" by volunteering to help lead in organized activities they themselves are interested in. We are looking forward to experiencing a greater depth of personal growth over the next few years in ministry to men.
Missions Ministry Team
I finally was able to propose a renewed vision & strategy for our Missions Ministry. Since then God has begun revealing the potential of new partnership in national and global missions.
We have begun partnering with Student Life (Campus Crusade AU’s) ministry to University students here in Perth. Without any SL staff on this side of the country, God has risen up a few students from our church to be the forerunners to this ministry among the 70,000 students. May God expand His kingdom from the labour of a few faithful students.
We have also identified a potential missionary couple to the indigenous people (Aboriginal) of AU. Lori & I were attending a denominational missions meeting to represent our church family. I saw a prayer card of a missionary couple who have recently returned to AU to carry the message of Christ to this aboriginal community. We recently shared our similar visions for the people of AU & were thrilled to discover they are known to some here and they too have adopted children. We are anticipating a meeting in December to move our partnership into action for the Lord.
We continue to keep our eyes open for opportunities to reach Muslims for Jesus in Indonesia even though God may have provided a local couple to complete that aim as well. This does seem to be a possible "crazy story of God" so we will let you know more if it develops into a partnership.
And how about this; as I proposed we bolster our Short Term Missions experiences, this past month we have been invited to partner in STM in South Africa & Zimbabwe more strategically. Hmmm. Seems God wants us to share our faith beyond our local community!
